Arizona Fall League
2023 Arizona Fall League Begins Play Tomorrow
10/2 UPDATE:
OF Christian Franklin has replaced OF Alexander Canario on the Mesa Solar Sox roster, and catcher (ex-INF) Carter Trice has been added to the Solar Sox Taxi Squad.
Trice was the 12th round draft pick of the Cubs this past July out of NC State, and has been in the Catcher Conversion Program at AZ Instructs for the past six weeks.
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2019 Arizona Fall League Schedule Announced
9/17 UPDATE:
SS Zack Short (replacing Nico Hoerner) and RHRP Scott Effross have been added to the Mesa Solar Sox roster.
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8/28 UPDATE #2:
One pitcher still TBA, but here are the Cubs assigned to the Mesa Solar Sox (AFL):
Miguel Amaya, C
Nico Hoerner, INF
Jordan Minch, LHRP
Keegan Thompson, RHSP
Erich Uelmen, RHSP
Jared Young, 1B-OF
TBA, P
Jamie Vermilyea, Pitching Coach
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8/28 UPDATE #1:
The Cubs have assigned SS Nico Hoerner to the Mesa Solar Sox.
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8/26 UPDATE:
Cubs (South Bend) Pitching Coach Jamie Vermilyea has been named pitching coach for the Mesa Solar Sox. (The Cubs are responsible for providing the MSS pitching coach in 2019). .
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7/31 ORIGINAL POST:
The 2019 Arizona Fall Schedule has been announced.
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AFL Set to Expand Schedule in 2019
With many MLB organizations curtailing or (as is the case with the Cubs) completely eliminating Fall Instructs, there are plans afoot to expand the Arizona Fall league (AFL) schedule in 2019 from the present six weeks (30 games) to eight weeks (40 games). If implemented, the 2019 AFL season would begin two weeks earlier than it does now (the last week of September instead of the second week in October),
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2018 Arizona Fall League Schedule Released
UPDATED 9/10
The 2018 Arizona Fall League schedule has been released. Rosters will probably be announced later this month.
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2017 Arizona Fall League Schedule Released
The 2017 Arizona Fall League schedule has been released and rosters should be announced later this month.
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81 Cubs Minor Leaguers Punch Tickets to Mesa
81 Cubs minor leaguers will be reporting to the Cubs Under Armour Performance Center at Mesa Riverview Park over the next few days.
57 of the players have been assigned to the "basic" (traditional) Cubs AZ Instructional League squad, 17 have been assigned to the "advanced" Instructs squad, and seven have been assigned to the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League.
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2016 Arizona Fall League Schedule Released
The 2016 Arizona Fall League schedule has been released and rosters should be announced later this month.
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2015 Arizona Fall League Schedule Released
The 2015 Arizona Fall League schedule has been released and rosters should be announced later this month.
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Cubs Assign Seven to Arizona Fall League
The Arizona Fall League (AFL) preliminary rosters have been announced, and the Cubs have assigned seven players to the Mesa Solar Sox (MSS). Present minor league assignment is in parenthesis:
Zach Cates, RHRP (AA Tennessee)
Gerardo Concepcion, LHRP (A+ Daytona)
C. J. Edwards, RHSP (AA Tennessee)
Jake Hannemann, OF (A+ Daytona) - see NOTE
Ivan Pineyro, RHSP (AA Tennessee)
Addison Russell, SS (AA Tennessee)
Dan Vogelbach, 1B (A+ Daytona)
NOTE: Hannemann is assigned to the MSS "Taxi Squad," so he is eligible to play in AFL games on Wednesday and Saturday only.
In addition, Daytona pitching coach Ron Villone has been assigned to Mesa as the Solar Sox pitching coach. (The Cubs were required to supply the MSS pitching coach this year).
Cates, Concepcion, Edwards, and Pineyro are Rule 5 Draft eligible post-2014, and so the Cubs may be using the AFL to get a better look at Cates, Concepcion, and Pineyro (especially Pineyro) before deciding whether to add any of them to their MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) post-2014. (C. J. Edwards is considered the Cubs #1 pitching prospect, so he is a "lock" to make the Cubs 40-man roster in November no matter how he performs in the AFL).
Russell played for the Mesa Solar Sox while a member of the Oakland A's last year, so this will be his second trip to the AFL, but in a different uniform. He will be sharing shortstop with A's SS prospect Daniel Robertson, who was Russell's rival in the Oakland system prior to Russell being traded to the Cubs in the Samardzija/Hammel trade. Russell missed considerable time this season as the result of a hamstring injury suffered prior to being acquired by the Cubs, so playing in the AFL will give the young shortstop some additional reps before he (presumably) gets moved up to AAA in 2015.
Both Edwards (shoulder) and Pineyro (forearm strain) were on the Tennessee Smokies Disabled List for lengthy periods of time this season, so pitching in the AFL will help them to make up for some of their "lost innings."
Remember, the AFL rosters announced this week are preliminary rosters only and are incomplete.
In the case of the Mesa Solar Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays have not named any of their four pitchers yet, and because Dwight Smith Jr has been assigned to the MSS "Taxi Squad," the Blue Jays still need to assign another position player as well. The Oakland A's have yet to name their fourth pitcher, and because Jake Hannemann was assigned to the MSS "Taxi Squad," the Cubs need to assign one more position player to the Solar Sox roster.
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2014 Arizona Fall League Schedule Released
The 2014 Arizona Fall League schedule has been released and rosters should be announced later this month.
The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an MLB developmental league (approximately equivalent to "AA") that operates for six weeks after the conclusion of the MLB regular season. It features a 32-game "regular season" schedule plus an All-Star Game (formerly called the "Rising Stars Game," but now known as the "Fall Stars Game") at the end of the 4th week, and the AFL Championship Game (pitting the winner of the East Division versus the winner of the West Division) at the end of the 6th and final week.
There are three games scheduled every day Monday through Saturday during the AFL regular season (there are no games on Sunday), beginning with Opening Day on the second Tuesday following the conclusion of the MLB regular season (which is October 7th in 2014) and extending up through the Thursday of the 6th week. (No regular season games are scheduled the day of the Fall Stars Game).
The Cubs usually assign some of their better prospects to the AFL. Depending on what positions the Cubs are asked to fill on the Mesa squad, I would not be surprised to see some combination of position players and pitchers such as:
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Recent comments
crunch (view)
cubs getting crazy good at not having player moves leak.
taillon we 100% know is pitching tonight. who he's replacing and any additional moves are unknown as far as i can tell.
p.wisdom was not in today's lineup in iowa (rained out) and he was removed from the game last night mid-game, but not for injury. good bet he's with the team in the bigs, too.
Bill (view)
A good rule of thumb is that if you trade a near-ready high ceiling prospect, you should get at least two far-away high ceiling prospects in return. Like all rules-of-thumb, it depends upon the specific circumstances, but certainly, we weren't going to get Busch for either prospect alone.
Sonicwind75 (view)
Right on schedule, just read an article in Baseball America entitled "10 MLB Prospects Outside The Top 100 Who Have Our Attention". Zyhir Hope was one of the prospects featured. It stated that he's "one of the biggest arrow-up sleeper prospects in the lower levels right now."
Not sharing to be negative about the trade, getting a top 100 prospect who is MLB ready should carry a heavy prospect cost. But man, Dodger sure are good at identifying and developing young talent. Andrew Friedman seems to have successfully merged Ray's development with Yankees financial might to create a juggernaut of an organization.
Sonicwind75 (view)
I suspect Brown will spend some time in the bullpen due to inning restrictions. Pitched only 93 innings last year and career high is 104 innings in 2022. I would expect them to be cautious with a young player with his injury history.
Childersb3 (view)
I wanted Almonte gone last week, but that was before Merryweather went down and Little got demoted. Almonte in his last 5 appearances has gone 4.1 IP with no ER or Runs. NO hits, 3 BBs and 8 SO. He did hit 96 with his 2S FB in AZ on Tues.
I don't see Jed waiving him when we have injuries all over and guys with options that can be sent down.
I probably won't like the move Jed makes, but he can't play the "let's hope no one wants his 1.7mil remaining deal and we can hide him in Iowa" card.
That's why I think the current Bullpen stays as is and Wicks goes to Iowa.
I don't like that, but that's the fix I see.
We'll find out soon enough!!!
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
Teheran minor league deal is done, per MLB.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
Based on Phil’s sound analysis it sounds like a no brainer for Almonte to be placed on waivers as today’s roster move. We shall see.
Arizona Phil (view)
I suspect Counsell/Hottovy will use the piggy-back extensively, with Taillon and Hendricks pitching as the "pig" (and with a very short leash) and some combo of Wicks, Brown, and Wesneski (whichever two do not start) as the "backers."
Keep in mind that Keegan Thompson has a minor league option available, and if Yency Almonte is not outrighted by 4/26 he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent after that date. Almonte is out of minor league options, so I am talking about him getting outrighted to the minors if he is not claimed off waivers, and if he is claimed off waivers, the Cubs save the pro-rated portion of his $1.9M salary, which helps lower the Cubs 2024 AAV.
Dolorous Jon Lester (view)
Totally agree. The 26 man roster very rarely consists of the 13 best position players and 13 best pitchers.
Dolorous Jon Lester (view)
Based on what Jed has done in the past, I’d say the plan is to
-give Hendricks another few starts
-give Taillon some runway ot get his season underway
-Mix and match in the bullpen and see what sticks
Jed usually doesn’t do a whole lot of waiver wire plays in-season, at least early in the season. He only reallly did that after he blew up the rosters in 21 and 22 because they needed bodies (guys like Schwindel, Fargas, etc).
I think he’s a little handcuffed by a full 40 man in that he can’t really maneuver much with giving anyone showing ability at AAA (R Thompson/ Sanders/ Edwards etc). Brewer has the most tenuous grip there, and we will see what kind of chance he gets. Other than his spot, there isn’t a ton of 40 man wiggle room.
I’m very curious to see what happens with Brown now that Taillon returns. Bullpen? Wicks to Iowa?